Incorporated by reference into this specification, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,185,520 and 4,275,870 disclose a winch transmission and control which, through selective energization of separate parts of the transmission, enables the winch to change automatically to a different output speed, to produce a fully braked condition, or to freewheel. Although satisfactory in some applications for controlling a hydrostatic winch, the single-lever control of U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,870 was erratic in operation and had poor feel. The erratic operation was caused by two factors: (1) the inherent lost motion in the control cables prevented the detented control valve spool from shifting reliably between functions, (2) the lost motion device on the control cam, in conjunction with the inherent characteristics of the hydrostatic transmission, allowed the brake to engage when the pump was still stroking during backdriving of the winch. Poor feel was caused by the cam mechanism which was used to shift the valve spools and by the inherent lost motion in the control cables, U-joints, and linkage.